Befriending a ghost

How do I to tell this story without sounding insane. I mean my actions prove otherwise but how do I come off sensible? My curiosity won the war against logical thinking. But I recently found out the full quote says “Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back” So I guess it was worth it.

The year was 2022. I received a seemingly normal message on instagram. A compliment encouraging me not to change because in their words I have a ‘nice soul’ I responded just like I would on any day. Naturally I wanted to know who was behind these kind words. To my surprise this page had nothing to tell. No posts , no tags, shady username. No followers, only followed me and one other business page.

I found this interesting and concerning at the same time. Surely you can’t join instagram and the first thing you do is compliment the only person you follow. So they told me that they made a ghost account to tell me this and be my friend. Now at this time in my life I had posted about how hard it can be to make friends. They wanted to stay anonymous and see if true friendship can be built under those circumstances.

Sometimes I do things for the plot, just to see what happens. So I gave it shot with the hope that I’d eventually figure out who it was. I’d occasionally talk to this ghost account. They wanted to be called by my name – V. That way they don’t give me any clues. The only information I got was their gender and the city they were based in.

Truth is it was okay most of the time. V seemed to pay attention and genuinely check up on me. V knew a lot about me and my interests. He also seemed to care about my wellbeing (or rather acted like it). I got an understanding of the kind of person he was. V came off as calm and collected. But that’s exactly how I imagine serial killers – no offence V.

All was well until of course it became too weird for me. He claimed to have seen me in public on some days. And honestly the thought of someone out there watching me was a bit strange. The thought of this anonymous person being any of the dozens of people that probably greet me when I step out of the house. I started feeling uneasy whenever I leave the house. I knew this had to stop. We couldn’t be friends, not like this.

I do think it could’ve been a fruitful friendship judging from the humour and the way the conversations would flow. However I think friendship is built on trust. V didn’t seem to trust me with his truth. On the other hand, social media is a dangerous place. I don’t know if he had pure intentions. Ghost accounts are too obscure to be good. A lot happens on the internet and I feared for my safety as well. It’s always better to stay safe.

I do not condone this behaviour. Stay safe <3